Is Your Car AC Working Right ?

Posted in May 2018 | 945 views

All about car's Ac

A cars air-conditioner has become a necessity rather than a luxury it was looked at till a few years back, especially during the summers. Like all the other components in your car, the air-conditioner also needs to be timely serviced in order to keep it performing at its peak.

This is something that is overlooked by most car owners and which leads to hefty bills when the air-conditioner breaks down. Keeping your car air-conditioner is fairly easy.

This is what a standard car air-conditioner looks like.

Common Problems with Car Air-conditioners

Grime on Internal Components

AC refrigerant gas leaking

Noisy AC Compressor

Grime on Internal Components

Like all other mechanical components the components of your car air-conditioner needs to be lubricated and cleaned. A cars air-conditioner is pulling air, cooling it and cooling your car. A lot of dirt and contaminants also enter your air-conditioner with the air. These contaminants stick to your air-conditioners components and make your air-conditioner work harder. Cleaning out the components can make a huge difference in how your air-conditioner cools, sometimes as much as 30-40%.

Ac Cooling Coil

AC cooling coil before cleaning

AC cooling coil after cleaning

Ac fan

Ac fan before cleaning.

Ac fan after cleaning.

AC refrigerant gas leaking

Like any other Air-conditioner, a car Air-conditioner uses refrigerant gas to cool the air. Leakage of this gas will simply stop the functioning of your Air-conditioner. This can be caused due to multiple reasons including physical damage of the Air-conditioner components; deterioration of the rubber seals in the system etc. Don’t fret though, a qualified and experienced Car Air-conditioner technician can easily repair this.

Step one is to add pressurized Nitrogen to the Air-conditioning system. Monitoring the pressure gauge will confirm the leak.

Step two is to apply a soap solution to all the components of the Air-conditioner system. The nitrogen gas starts bubbling though the soap solution thus identifying the leak.

Step three is repair/ replacement of the component, which is leaking.

Ac refrigerant gas leak testing

Noisy AC Compressor

The noise your Car AC Compressor makes can tell you a lot about the health of the Air Conditioning system. The most common ones are

Banging or clanking noise -
This may indicate a loose part inside the air compressor for example a connecting rod, piston pin, crankshaft or internal mount. These noises may indicate your system needs an air compressor replacement.

Bubbling or hissing sounds -
This usually means your compressor has a refrigerant leak.

Buzzing noises near the outside fan motor -
These sounds may indicate a failing motor, loose wiring, arcing connections or arcing or burning at the fan contactor relay switch.

Chattering or rattling noise - This can occur in models with a compressor crankcase heater element if the unit is started up before allowing 24 hours of power-on time.